I am happy to leave this exercise in response to the weekly call by
The shipwreck of the pirate boat
The surface of the sea is so stormy that it looks as if Neptune himself is causing this terrible tide! The sailors on board the great galleon are beginning to lose hope of survival. They had set sail from distant shores with the desire to reach the Reef of Death where the "Beautiful Girl" was submerged in shallow water near the coast.
For decades it had been rumoured that a curse protected its treasures.
Now the captain, a horrible man, always ready for an imprecation, a blasphemy, at the approach of a storm, shouted at the top of his lungs, causing his people to panic.
"Whether you are Poseidon, whether you are Triton or whether you are Neptune I will defeat you, I will end your curse and take the treasure!" - he shouted as he raised, with his left hand, the sword.
On his right arm gleamed, illuminated by the incipient lightning, the metal of the hook that replaced the hand lost in a fierce encounter with a shark.
From the way the waters were enervated, one might have thought that the god of those seas had heard the blasphemy.
The captain looked up through the dark clouds where the huge figure of a man began to form. He thought he was hallucinating. The human form began to approach the ship. For a moment it was all gloom, the black clouds approached the dark ship that seemed to be fleeing over a rough, dark and deep sea.
"You have challenged me!" Rumbled a sparkling voice that filled the whole sky.
Down below, the captain became clearly aware of his smallness. He began to shout as he ran from bow to stern and stern to bow.
"Every man for himself! Every man for himself! Every man for himself!"
The sailors were running for their lives, no matter if they had wooden legs, if they were one-eyed or armless. They all came and went, looking for a plank and grabbing along the way any object of value, or a bottle of liquor, before throwing themselves into the fate of the sea.
David, the youngest sailor in the crew, remembered that there were many caged animals on deck. The captain bought them from dealers in exotic countries and planned to sell them for the price of gold in circuses.
Young David took pity on them and without a second thought began to open the cages. The animals were nervous, they smelled or sensed danger and began to scurry off in search of an escape.
Everything was in turmoil: the thunderous pounding of the waves against the wood, the shouts of the once brave and now cowed privateers, the hysterical voice of the captain pleading with his subordinates. He did not want to be the last to leave the ship, he wanted to be the first. The roar of the wild beasts, the tramp of the elephants, the sound of the giraffes' hooves on the wet wood. The happy flapping of birds soaring through the sky....
David had forgotten himself, the captain's orders, the terrible wreck of the beautiful ship. He only wanted to save the innocent animals. Beautiful dogs, gentle cats would die if he didn't save them. He runs from one side to the other pulling out the little ones who are already wet, threatened by the salt water that is pouring in from the boat that has already capsized.
"David, David, we are waiting for you!" He hears the voice nearby.
"I can't leave now, I must save all the animals, if I leave they will drown!"
"David it's time!"
David looks up, all his clothes are completely wet, in his hand he holds a beautiful dove.
"David, put down the toys already!" Dad's voice indicates that he is angry.
Dad approaches David who is still crouched over the small pool in the garden. In it the pirate ship has been wrecked. At the bottom are still some animals. On a makeshift beach lie the lifeless bodies of the captain and the other pirates. They have all succumbed to the curse of the "Beautiful Girl".
"David! You're soaking wet, now we must change your clothes and shoes! We'll be late again."
David falls silent.
Dad takes him by the hand and leads him away from the wreck of the pirate ship.
